Xavius Raid Boss Strategy Guide

Emerald Nightmare Overview and Guides

Loot and RewardsQuick TipsTrashAbilities

StrategyOther DifficultiesXavius

Xavius is the final boss of the Der Smaragdgrüne Alptraum raid, and can only be accessed after players defeat Cenarius. He is located in the Rift of Aln, a shadowy, surreal chamber beneath the roots of the Nightmare-corrupted Shaladrassil world tree. Players may access the Rift of Aln by speaking to Malfurion, who will turn the players into sprites of leaves and hurl them into the vortex at the heart of the Moonglade.

Xavius is the sole boss in the Riss von Aln wing of the Emerald Nightmare Raid Finder.

The Rift of Aln is a limitless expanse of shadows, with no clear boundaries. The darkness that creeps in at the edges of the lighter central circle is a vague indicator of the encounter area. Players who cross through this shadowy boundary into Das unendliche Dunkel beyond it will take extremely heavy damage until they return to the center of the Rift of Aln. During both trash and the boss fight, the raid should avoid stepping into Das unendliche Dunkel.

Loot and Rewards

The boss loot table is the same between all difficulties. LFR 835, Normal 850, Heroic 865, Mythic 880. All loot has a chance to proc a higher ilvl, up to a max of ilvl 895. For more information on how ilvls and gearing work in Legion, please check the Early Legion Gearing Guide.

Quick Tips

Most of Nightmare Lord Xavius's attacks inflict Corruption on their victims. As a player gains more Corruption, they become increasingly vulnerable to the power of the Nightmare, eventually losing control entirely and turning against their friends at maximum Corruption.Players' only hope lies in the power of Ysera, who puts many of them into a deep slumber and forms a of those players. When their Simulacrum perishes, the affected player will awaken, as any Corruption gained by their Simulacrum dissipates harmlessly.

Damage Dealers: Players affected by should protect non-dreaming players by handling any abilities that spread Corruption.Defeat Inconceivable Horrors before they can get close enough to cast on Xavius.Absorb before it can reform back into Inconceivable Horrors.

Healers: Players affected by should protect non-dreaming players by handling any abilities that spread corruption.Dispel and as sparingly as possible to manage the amount of Corruption you gain.Absorb before it can reform back into Inconceivable Horrors.

Tanks: Players affected by should protect non-dreaming players by handling any abilities that spread corruption.Move away from others when and is about to be dispelled from you.Quickly pick up Corruption Horrors when is cast.Absorb before it can reform back into Inconceivable Horrors.

Notable Trash Mobs

Xavius trash creeps in from the shadowsThe trash before Xavius is a gauntlet consisting of five waves of adds. The first wave spawns as the party enters the Rift of Aln, and subsequent waves spawn just after the current wave of adds dies. The enemies spawn in the shadows at the edges of the room and march forward, converging on the party, giving a brief break between each wave.

There are four types of trash mobs players will encounter in these waves, with each wave having a different composition.

Dark Devourers are trivial mobs that deal only melee damage. Tanks should be sure to hold threat on them, and the raid should kill them with efficient cleave and AoE abilities, but they are the lowest priority adds to kill.

If the raid wipes on a wave of this trash, the surviving trash mobs will withdraw slightly into the shadows and heal to full, but the trash that players killed will not respawn. It is extremely easy to accidentally pull the trash when re-entering the Rift of Aln after a wipe. Be sure to group up in Moonglade first, and teleport into the Rift of Aln together, so the raid is less likely to lose stray members to an unintentional trash pull.

Xavius Abilities & Strategy

This guide provides tips and strategies for defeating the Xavius encounter on Normal difficulty. Changes to the fight for Looking for Raid, Heroic, and Mythic difficulties are listed below in their respective sections, including suggestions for dealing with the new mechanics introduced in these difficulties.

Once consistent mechanic is that, each time Xavius reaches 100 Energy, he will summon adds

Some of these adds are high-priority burst targets, particularly during Phase 1 and 2

These adds are infrequent and players will spend most of their time DPSing Xavius

Three tanks are recommended for this encounter. It is possible to do with only two tanks, and many groups do, but having three tanks will smooth out certain mechanics and may help the raid progress further into the fight. As always, evaluate your own raid's strengths and weaknesses when determining how many players of each role to bring to an encounter.

Corruption Mechanics

Corruption barCorruption: Crushing Shadows at 33 CorruptionCorruption: Unfathomable Reality at 66 CorruptionWhen the encounter begins, players will be given an Alternate Power Bar to track their Corruption levels. Corruption is gained from several of Xavius's abilities, and at certain thresholds, players will begin to 'hallucinate' new mechanics that only they can see or be affected by. It is important to avoid gaining Corruption at too fast a rate, as these additional mechanics deal heavy damage on top of the already hectic fight.

At 33 Corruption or higher, players will see Schreckensmonstrositäts appear in the shadows at the edges of the encounter area.

A player who transforms into a Creature of Madness must be killed, taking valuable DPS and resources away from managing Xavius and his mechanics, as well as increasing the likelihood that other players will become mind-controlled.

On Normal difficulty, a player's Corruption slowly decays

Some sources of Corruption are unavoidable, but most can be avoided if the raid executes the strategy properly

Most players should be able to avoid becoming mind-controlled

It is likely that some players will reach 100 Corruption during the final phase of the fight, which is a race-against-time burn phase

Note that battle resurrections do not clear a player's Corruption. This means that, if you battle res a player who was mind-controlled, they will pop up with full Corruption and immediately enter Verderbnis: Abstieg in den Wahnsinn. Battle resses should not be used on players who die to this mechanic early in the fight, as the raid will simply have to kill them again soon.

The Dream

Fortunately, players are not alone in their fight against Xavius. The Traum von Ysera will spawn twice during the encounter and send half of the party into the Dream, allowing them extra leeway in managing their Corruption.

The Dream of Ysera appears when Xavius reaches 95% health, and again when he reaches 60% health

This is right at the start of Phase 1, and again at the start of Phase 2; Phase 3 has no Dream

Half of the raid enters the Dream each time, so every player will see the Dream mechanic

Ysera will take an even split of roles so there are always tanks and healers in the Dream

The players taken for the first Dream are chosen at random - the raid cannot influence which players are selected

The Dream of Ysera flies overhead, placing half the raid into the Emerald Dream While in the Dream, players' bodies are unconscious, but the players may still interact in the encounter as a Simulakrum des Traums version of themselves.

Damage taken and Corruption gained while the player is a Simulakrum des Traums is "erased" when the player's Dream ends

Additionally, any cooldowns used during the Dream are restored when the player awakens

Healers should note that any mana they spend during the Dream is refunded when they awaken

For more information on these mechanics, see the Phase 1 and Phase 2 sections below

The goal within the Dream is to protect the raid as much as possible from Corruption gains, and to prolong your stay in the Dream so that you will reach 100 Corruption and gain the Verderbnis: Abstieg in den Wahnsinn throughput buff. Use cooldowns liberally to help defeat adds or heal through heavy raid damage.

When players enter the Dream, they are set to zero Corruption. However, upon leaving the Dream, players are set back to the Corruption levels they had before the Dream began.

For players who are Dreaming during Phase 1, this is almost always a full Corruption reset, since the first Dream occurs so quickly that players probably didn't have a chance to gain Corruption.

These players must be careful with their Corruption gains in Phase 2, as it will not be cleared again during the encounter

Players who are not Dreaming during Phase 1 should be careful to minimize their Corruption gains in Phase 1, so that when they emerge from their Dream their Corruption is low

While in the Dream, players are vulnerable to the Corruption threshold mechanics listed above, and are very likely to see them since they are soaking Corruption mechanics. Use personal damage reduction cooldowns to survive the additional damage these mechanics will deal.

The player targeted with Quälende Fixierung should kite the Lurking Terror away from other players

A player in the Dream should then intercept the Lurking Terror and soak the Quälende Infektion damage and Corruption gain

Face Corruption Horrors away from the raid for Tormenting SwipeThe player targeted by the Schlummernde Eruption should move away from their location as soon as the Lurking Terror spawns, so the whole raid can easily see where the Lurking Terror will be kited. It may be beneficial to mark a location to kite the Terror towards, so that Simulakrum des Traums players will be able to quickly position themselves to intercept the Quälende Infektion.

On the occasions where Xavius casts Verderbnis manifestieren instead of summoning a Lurking Terror, a Corruption Horror add will spawn.

The Corruption Horror is a priority target that must be tanked and killed quickly

Every 20 seconds, the Corruption Horror will cast Verderbende Nova, damaging all players in the raid and giving them 5 Corruption

Quälender Prankenhieb deals heavy damage to all players in front of the Horror, and gives those players 10 Corruption

The Dreaming tank should taunt the Corruption Horror when it spawns and bring it near the boss for cleave damage

Face the Corruption Horror away from the raid

All DPS should swap to the Corruption Horror immediately and burn it down quickly to limit Verderbende Nova casts

Remember that Corruption Horrors spawn at 1 minute and 2:20 into the fight, and save short-term DPS throughput cooldowns to help kill these adds quickly. Healers should use cooldowns to recover from the Verderbnis manifestieren damage (particularly Dreaming healers, whose cooldowns will be refreshed when they exit the Dream anyway).

Nightmare Blades cuts a chord across the encounter area, passing through both targetsIn addition to these adds, Xavius will attack the raid with Alptraumklingen.

Try to have a cooldown of some sort active when dispelled, as Verfinsterte Entladung is extremely heavy damage

If you are two-tanking, then the tank who is not in the Dream will be tanking Xavius for a long period of time while the Dream tank handles the Corruption Horror. The non-Dreaming tank should save their heaviest cooldowns and active mitigation abilities for this time.

If you are three-tanking, then two tanks can continue to swap as normally scheduled for Verdunkelnde Seele while the Dream tank handles the Corruption Horror.

Dreaming healers should be in charge of dispelling the Verdunkelnde Seele debuff from tanks.

Each healer can only dispel 4 times before their Dream will end due to reaching 100 Corruption

If more than one healer is in the Dream, be sure to cycle dispelling duties so both healers stay in the Dream for a longer period of time

If only one healer is in the Dream, non-Dreaming healers can occasionally help dispel since, when they get Dream in Phase 2, their Corruption will be cleared

This has the potential to deal fatal damage or overload the raid's Corruption bars if too many adds reach Xavius

Horrors respawn from unsoaked DischargeThe raid should kill Inconceivable Horrors quickly, and use slows/stuns/CC abilities to keep them away from Xavius. Melee DPS and non-tanking tanks should attack the nearest Horrors, while ranged DPS should attack Horrors further from the boss.

Due to the 30-second Geschwärzt debuff, tanks should swap every 3-4 stacks. The periodic damage is very high at these stack levels, so be sure to use stronger cooldowns or active mitigation to survive. Run slightly away from the other tanks before calling for a dispel, so that only players with the Alptrauminfusion will soak the Besudelte Entladung.

Dreaming healers should be in charge of dispelling the Schwärzende Seele debuff from tanks.

Each healer can only dispel 4 times before their Dream will end due to reaching 100 Corruption

If more than one healer is in the Dream, be sure to cycle dispelling duties so both healers stay in the Dream for a longer period of time

Additionally, Xavius will buff himself with Alptrauminfusion, causing his melee attacks to also grant his target 5 Corruption.

Xavius gains this buff once a minute, and it lasts for 30 seconds or until 6 melee strikes/30 Corruption has been applied

Tanks should plan around this when scheduling their tank swaps, so that the Dream tank's Schwärzende Seele stacks do not get too high

Phase 2 lasts until Xavius reaches 30% health. Make sure not to push Xavius to Phase 3 until all Besudelte Entladung pools have been absorbed - Finstere Zerstörung during Phase 3 will surely cause wipes.

Phase 3: World of Darkness

The final phase of the encounter is a hectic burn phase. The raid must defeat Xavius before the inevitable Corruption gains lead to too many players transforming into Creatures of Madness and causing wipes.

Use Kampfrausch/Heldentum/Zeitkrümmung during this phase. Using strong cooldowns at the start of the phase will help remove a large chunk of Xavius's health before the fight becomes too hectic.

It is very likely that at least some players will reach 100 Corruption during this phase. Ideally, these players can use the Verderbnis: Abstieg in den Wahnsinn buff to deal extremely high damage to Xavius and end the encounter before the buff expires. If any players become mind-controlled, the raid will have to decide whether they can ignore/stun them and keep attacking Xavius, or if they need to quickly kill off the player.

Many thanks to Ranor of <Temerity> on US-Windrunner for providing the screenshots of the Nightmare Tentacles!

Looking For Raid Difficulty

There are no mechanical differences listed for Looking for Raid difficulty, although several abilities provide less Corruption than on Normal mode. However, this difficulty was not available for testing, so more information will be provided when the LFR wing opens.

Heroic Difficulty

Run together with Bonds of TerrorOn Heroic difficulty, Xavius gains a new ability in Phase 2 of the encounter: Schreckensbindungen.

Every 15 seconds, Xavius will choose two targets for Schreckensbindungen, linking them together.

Tanks cannot be targeted by this, but all other players are valid targets

Much like the Lurking Terrors, the player targeted with Quälende Fixierung must kite the Lurking Terror away from the raid, and a player in the Dream must intercept it. However, the addition of the AoE element to Quälende Detonation adds an extra restraint on this - the kiter must not be within 8 yards of the Terror, and the interceptor must make sure not to be within 8 yards of any other raid members. This is best achieved by marking a location in the room for the interception to occur, and having the player targeted by Quälende Fixierung kite the Lurking Terror there.

No other new mechanics are listed in the dungeon journal for Mythic difficulty, and Mythic Xavius was not tested on Beta. More information will be added to this section of the guide when it becomes available.

The Emerald Dream

After completing the Xavius encounter, players may return to the Emerald Dream to view the result of their efforts in clearing out Xavius's corruption. The below screenshots are just a sample of the peaceful scene that players are rewarded with for repelling the Nightmare.

Kommentar von Kuronx

Is it possible to use an invulnerability ability like Ice Block or a pally bubble to absorb corruption meteor or tainted discharge without taking and corruption? Or does it just block damage and not corruption?

Kommentar von majeedaf

What would happen though if a shadow priests uses Surrender to Madness as a Dream Simalcrum?1- Will the priest die?2- Will he be cast out of the Dream Simalcrum with all cds back? Since you leave the construct when you take fatal damage. That would be sweet. Imagine using two Surrender to Madnesses in one fight damn.

Kommentar von Elyseon

And stay dead! No "merely a setback" for you!

Kommentar von SaltLB

It's possible to cheese the normal version of this fight in Phase 3. Instead of dragging Xavius over towards clumps of Nightmare Tentacles, you can just bring him to the center of the room and, after lusting, just burn him down. This does of course require good DPS and good HPS.

Kommentar von Alhazred01

battle rez does NOT clear corruption. you'll rez with 100 corruption and go MC all over again. confirmed.

Kommentar von Abohassan

Kommentar von Hordearmy

Healers must not dispel until the debuff has 3 stacks and they should have dreaming buff.In addition, do not worry if u reach high corruption while dreaming.

Kommentar von Ulquiorra4thSwrd

In the emerald dream, there is also a "spirit" that looks like Ysera in "human" form walking near a cave, and a battle pet all around the zone :|

Kommentar von Demonikhunter

Bonds of Terror seems to be a Heroic addition. It didn't appear on our Normal kill.

Kommentar von CzechCloud

Dont be fooled. This boss isnt really that complex on normal or heroic.Basically you just need to know how much corruption you have and overall knew what to do.

And also, be sure to Hero/Bloodlust at the third phase, not at the start.

Kommentar von kriS411

Please remove the battle ress hint after killing a corruption: decent into madness player - or at least note that this does not clear corruption.The player will start with 100 corruption after the ress and will me MCed again after the 20 sec corruption: decent into madness phase.It might be only worthwhile if these 20 extra seconds are the extra DPS needed to finish the boss.

Kommentar von cephadex

Thank you so much for all your work in putting together this detailed guide! Just a silly question, would you know if on LFR difficulty you would still get to see the Emerald Dream after defeating Xavius? ^^

Kommentar von fleaabag

What are recommended DPS requirements for normal/heroic? I have encountered multiple groups now that swear up and down that the second corruption should not spawn on the xavius encounter unless dps is just incredibly low, yet I have downed this encounter twice now by doing one of two things lusting at 30% of the second spawns health or pushing to the start of phase 2 and lusting. Neither time that have I used lust in 3rd. I would rather use lust on 3rd but because multiple people in the group want that add down they decide to lust. Any suggestions?

Kommentar von Breadgehog

Am I right in thinking that if you DO hit full stacks of corruption, you're best to dump as much DPS as you can into the boss and then bail into the shadows to prevent the MC effect? Either way the player is effectively dead, but that way seems to at least mitigate most of the impact.

Kommentar von Atraira

...ok seriously how can I view this without the guide. I just want to view the instance/bosses like all the old ones.

Kommentar von Roqua

After Legion, this fights going to take a few Xpacks before people will be able to solo it.

Kommentar von alec1012

Can you also use Cleanse as Retri Pally to dispel tanks from Darkening Souls? That could help damage dealers who receive Dream in phase 1 to reach the 100 corruption mark, as corruption gains during phase 1 are lower.